So, after waiting all through the last damn near year for you maniacs to say something worth replying to, I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands and do something worth talking about. So, in order to play GoD and breathe some life back into this site, I have decided to do something I have yet to see on this site and perform a Let’s Play. (If you have no idea what a Let’s Play is (probably because you haven’t opened a browser tab outside of BrikWars in five years), this will tell you the basics.)

Of course, this website being what it is, I chose the most game I could think of to play: X-Com: UFO Defense.

Originally released in 1994 to the UK as UFO: Enemy Unknown, it later made its way to America after resolving legal issues arising from there already being a game by the name of UFO, and won over countless gamers with its deep tactical combat and permanent death rules, made even more personal by the ability to name your soldiers after friends and family.

Then 501st went on to make something behind my back, but he’s playing the sequel so it doesn’t really matter. Whereas his game will let you do all you RP stuff, this game is just here to get you killed.

And with that, welcome to the geoscape, X-Com’s world map. From here we will blast UFOs out of the sky in glorious displays of fire (implied but not seen), and then send our minions to die horribly against the survivors. But first, we need to choose where to put our base.

That said, I’m going to put us here, just east of Berlin. This will give us radar and fighter coverage over all of Europe, where most of our funding comes from.

XCOM is how any real military would abbreviate Extraterrestrial Combat Unit, which is what X-Com is supposed to stand for. CENTEUR stands for Central Europe. Yes, this is how militaries name things.

Welcome, one and all, to our first base! Now those of you who have played this game probably just went [dammitcantfindavid]HOLD IT![/dammitcantfindavid] That’s not how the base was built! Let me explain. I am using (some) of the features of the XcomUtil mod, which fixes a few of the nastier bugs, and also gives us a base that gives us a fighting chance when we get invaded. Let’s take a look around, shall we?

So, ten each of scientists and engineers, and eight troops, none of which are assed as available because they are attached to the Skyranger.

I love this [dammitnolink]music[/dammitnolink]. There’s an element of triumph to it, but it is tempered by the memories of friends you lost, and the knowledge that you still have many more battles to face before your trial is over. It says to the player “Don’t forget the past, but enjoy the present, because there is a good chance your friends won’t be around in the future.”

Everyone who earns their first kill receives a promotion to squaddie rank, but notation only begins upon promotion to sergeant.

Well, if you ask me, I’d say that we’ve gotten off to a decent start. Our first mission went off without a hitch, and gave us plenty of goodies to play around with. We still need to work on our fighters, but on the ground, we are doing very well. I just wonder how long that’ll last.

Some name suggestions for future recrutes:Max MustermannRed ShirtBruce Vain

And a little "How not to suck at this game", if you want it:

Don't cluster your troops too close to each other or one single granade can result in a total party wipeout.That said: Use granades yourself. They are cheap and extremely versatile. And you can tear down walls with them as easily as with rockets for a much lower price.You can open doors by right clicking on them. That way you don't risk reflex fire.

Build more radar systems. At least two long range ones, but preferably four per base. They only have a limited chance to detect UFOs and you want to discover as many as possible. You can either have 50 UFOs in two years or shoot down 200 in only six months.As soon as you can, get more workshops and engineers. They can make you increadibly rich.You will need one or two additional bases focused on military: Hangars and living quarters, storage and containment units, radar and air defense and psi training when you get to it. Not much more. For research and production, it is more effective to have separate facilities with up to 200 researchers or engineers respectively.It pays off to have small, unmanned radar bases scattered around the globe (again with four or even more radar stations). If your air defense is tight enough, you won't have to fight off intruders often.Transport between the bases is hilariously cheap.

knolli wrote:Don't cluster your troops too close to each other or one single granade can result in a total party wipeout.

Known.

That said: Use granades yourself. They are cheap and extremely versatile. And you can tear down walls with them as easily as with rockets for a much lower price.

Also known.

You can open doors by right clicking on them. That way you don't risk reflex fire.

Requires a mod that only works on the Steam rerelease.

Build more radar systems. At least two long range ones, but preferably four per base. They only have a limited chance to detect UFOs and you want to discover as many as possible. You can either have 50 UFOs in two years or shoot down 200 in only six months.

Radar systems don't stack your odds of detection. If you have radar coverage of an area, you have a flat 30% chance per half hour to detect it. (Unless you're using late-game tech.)

As soon as you can, get more workshops and engineers. They can make you increadibly rich.

You will need one or two additional bases focused on military: Hangars and living quarters, storage and containment units, radar and air defense and psi training when you get to it. Not much more. For research and production, it is more effective to have separate facilities with up to 200 researchers or engineers respectively.

Only one containment is ever needed, but yes I plan to have outposts in America and Asia, possibly more.

It pays off to have small, unmanned radar bases scattered around the globe (again with four or even more radar stations). If your air defense is tight enough, you won't have to fight off intruders often.

I'm thinking lightly garrisoned fighter bases out in the boonies, such as Australia.

Transport between the bases is hilariously cheap.

Noted.

ALSO: Anybody caught posting or lurking in this thread is subject to summary conscription into the X-Com forces.

You can open doors by right clicking on them. That way you don't risk reflex fire.

Requires a mod that only works on the Steam rerelease.

Build more radar systems. At least two long range ones, but preferably four per base. They only have a limited chance to detect UFOs and you want to discover as many as possible. You can either have 50 UFOs in two years or shoot down 200 in only six months.

Radar systems don't stack your odds of detection. If you have radar coverage of an area, you have a flat 30% chance per half hour to detect it. (Unless you're using late-game tech.)

I must ask why you are not using OpenXcom considering it ties all of the above mods into a far better package AND it gives you the ability to change you resolution and apply buttplugs to it (Xcom at 1280x1024 with AA filtering actually makes it pretty damn good for a game over 15 years old). Also the ability to open doors with a right click=A FUCKING GODSEND.

No idea how many lives that has saved so far.

Also - the radar detection glitch was fixed in both XcomUtil and OpenXcom so they do actually stack and are hella useful.